Brooklyn schools adapting to new standards

Saturday

Oct 5, 2013 at 5:49 PM

By Francesca Kefalas

BROOKLYN — Teachers have been living in two worlds at Brooklyn schools.

The district is straddling the line between teaching students according to the new Common Core State Standards — coming by state mandate — and the current curriculum guided by the Connecticut Mastery Test.

“We’ve been multiple-personality for a few years,” said Al Yanku, principal of Brooklyn Middle School. “We’ve been doing some of both. It’s been a strange world, and we’re still in the strange world.”

Yanku and Superintendent Louise Berry both said they are unsure when the state will begin testing using the Common Core standards, which require the district to continue preparing for the CMT.

Yanku said the Common Core initiative is not just putting a new a name to test. There is a full curriculum model, and the expectations are significantly different, he said.

“There’s a new level of complexity to the kinds of questions the kids will be tested on,” Yanku said.

To prepare students and teachers, the district has invested in a new assessment program. Star Reading and Star Math test students several times a year around the state standardized test. The assessments do not reveal simple scores, Yanku said — they show how students perform compared to a benchmark grade, and they can show teachers where each students’ strength and weaknesses are.

The benchmarks are based on student achievement beyond Brooklyn.

Board Member James Kelly said the Common Core standards represent an international curriculum system, which will position students for success in the future.

The district just completed the first round of assessments. Yanku said early indications — before the results were final — showed strong results.

“There are a large chunk of our kids who are Common Core capable,” Yanku said.

Middle School Teacher Diane Wimmer said she is excited by the programs. Early indications show the programs are user-friendly, and they offer an array of information that’s important to teachers, Wimmer said.

“We can see what every student needs,” Wimmer said. “It’s not just about helping the students who are struggling — it can show us what everyone, even the best students, need.”